Competitor Analysis (Task)

Definition

Competitor Analysis

the requirements engineering task during which the competing businesses of the customer organization’s current business enterprise are identified, profiled, and analyzed

Classification

As illustrated in the preceding figure, Competitor Analysis is part of the following inheritance hierarchy:

• Type: Abstract
• Superclass: Business Analysis
• Subclasses:
  • None

Responsibilities

The typical responsibilities of Competitor Analysis are to:

• Identify the competitors of the customer organization’s business enterprise.
• Profile and analyze these competitors.
• Enable the customer organization to modify its business (e.g., reengineer its processes, reorganize itself, develop new or enhance existing applications).

Preconditions

Competitor analysis can typically begin when the following preconditions hold:

• The business strategy phase has begun.
• The business strategy team has been staffed and trained in competitor analysis.

Completion Criteria

Competitor analysis is typically complete when the following postconditions hold:

• The different kinds of competitors have been profiled and analyzed.
• The competitor analysis document has been developed, evaluated, approved, and delivered to the customer organization.

Steps

Competitor analysis typically involves the business strategy team performing the following steps in an iterative, incremental, and parallel manner:

• Identify the different kinds of competitors.
• TBD

Techniques

Competitor analysis typically can be performed using the following techniques:

• TBD

Work Products

Competitor analysis typically results in the production of the following work products:

• Competitor Profile

Guidelines

• Competitor analysis is usually performed during the business strategy phase, but it can also be performed of during the initiation phase if insufficient business [re]engineering was required to justify a separate business strategy phase.
• The questions asked during competitor analysis varies depending on the application domain.